in the rocket fire on both side. we thank you for watching. newsroom international starts right now. welcome to "news room international." i'm suzanne malveaux. here's what's going on right now. strikes and counterstrikes are growing deadlier by the day as israel and militants in gaza turn their region into a raging battlefield. the strike you saw on this building in gaza city happened just hours ago. we were told a senior official from islamicee huhhed was killed in that strike. civilians are paying a price as well. officials in gaza say more than 100 people, many of them women and children, have been killed there so far. three israelis have also been killed. our christian amanpour is joining us from jerusalem. first of all, israel is insisting these are surgical strikes intended to hit militant

targets and avoiding civilian casualties. we now have reports that 100 people have been killed in gaza, 800 wounded in the past six days. there's a lot of concern about where the civilians lie in all of this. >> well, suzanne, i think any military expert will tell you that it's not possible in a place that is so densely populated, as is gaza. however, israeli officials do tell us they do have a new set of weaponry, more precision weapons than they did this time -- this time last time around when they went in to gaza on the ground and by air. more than 1,000 people were killed. now they are trying to do it in a different way, and they also -- you have the public military track and the

diplomatic track going as well, and a senior israeli official told me today that they hope -- israel is hoping that they can, in fact, is he success from the diplomatic track. as you know, the united states is not interested in seeing an israeli ground fe into gaza, although reiterating its support for israel's right to self-defense. we hear from palestinians that they are serious about working on a cease-fire, but, of course, each side has demands. we hear from egyptian officials at this point that the possibility of a truce may be close, but they "need more flexibility" from israel, so this is being played out right now. perhaps tomorrow will be crucial. >> and, christian, you know this region better than anybody. what do you think is the timetable here? i mean, we are really in a critical point, and we are seeing these attacks back and forth. is this something that you think will last throughout days, throughout weeks? when are they actually going to get to the table and try to

figure this out? >> they are trying to figure it out right now. egypt is the main broker. egypt is also in contact with the united states. also, there is turkey's involvement, qatar's involvement, the head of the hamas political wing is also involved. in temz of creating with israel, egypt is the main broker. we understand it has not been confirmed for us that an israeli envoy is at the table or at least has been and is involved in these talks, but the impression we're getting from the israeli side is that they're obviously involved in the negotiations and each side is looking very closely at what the other is proposing. has each side sent enough of a message that they can say, okay, this is it. we've sent our message. we want this and that, and now is the time to get off the military ramp? we'll see. >> you've covered this. when you take a look at this situation on the ground and you realize the israeli government is calling up 75,000 reservists,

massing tens of thousands of troops and tanks near the border at the palestinian territory, what does this say to you in terms of a ground invasion? does it seem inevitable? what do you make of what is happening there in your experience? >> the experience is covering operation costs led four years ago and before that the operation that went into lebanon in 2006. you know, as soon as israel goes in on the air and then at the same time calls up its reserves, moves armor and tanks towards the border, everybody gets very tense and wonder whether that's going to lead to a ground invasion. what we know is that they are using a dual track. there's a military track and a diplomatic track. even though yesterday israeli officials were sort of emphasizing the dual track, today they are trying to emphasize the political track and hope that there's success there, but always saying that,

look, our objective is to stop the missiles from falling on people, and they believe and they said telling us that they have inflicted enough damage or at least considerable damage and they have managed to sort of decrease the number of rockets coming over, but, of course, you know, hamas also has new weaponry. they have been able to file televooif. the equation is slightly change odd both sides. >> all right. christian, thank you. appreciate your perspective, as always. a key to understanding the conflict is to understand this region. gaza relies on the medicine terrain yn coast where egypt and israel meet. the territory covers 138 square miles. it's about twice the size of washington d.c. about 1.7 million people live in gaza. most are palestinian refugees in densely populated wrarz. israel covers 7,850 square miles, which is about the size of emergency new jersey.

more than 7.5 million people live there. they are surrounded by the north, by lebanon, and syria. jordan to the east and south of the west bank, which is palestinian territory. it's all the east of israel, and on the southwestern side is egypt where the new muslim brotherhood government supports the palestinians. israel has to keep its eye on all sides in what is considered a hostile region. cnn is right in the middle of the crisis. just hours ago our own fred plankton issued the shelling on the border between israel and gaza and got to see a reaction from israel live. he was speaking with carol costello when this happened just an hour ago. take a look. >> there's an interceptor missile taking place there. if you just saw the flash in the school, that was a rocket coming out of gaza that was just intercepted right now. it appears as though at this point many time there is another barrage being fired from gaza into this part of israel close to the israeli border, and as us

just telling you, this town here on the border is one that does take a lot of fire very frequently. >> he is joining us live near the israeli gaza border. fred, nighttime has now come. have we seen any more of these rocket attacks? has it intensified over the last few hours? >> i would say it stayed about the same. what we've had is we've had rocket attacks for the better part of the afternoon here, suzanne, in this area surrounding gaza. i'm in the town right now which traditionally takes rockets every once in a while from gaza, and it's taking a lot more now that this situation here is going on. throughout the better part of the day basically everywhere that i went to in that area we had some sort of air raid alarm. m morning we were hit by four rockets. two of them hit in a residential area destroying two houses there. no one was injured. we had two alarms go on. we went to the board are very close into the area very close

to the border with gaza. we had mortar attacks there where we had to hit the deck several times, and then finally we were in another town where we had that air raid alarm that you just saw there on carol costello's show where before that we had to hit the deck as well. certainly it's been a very busy day. i would say it's not intensifying. it's about the same as it was a day before, but certainly what has become clear is if israel's objectsive to stop fire from gaza, it has not achieved that yet because there are still rockets going out, and, of course, on the other side there are still a lot of air strikes happening by the israeli military in gaza. we saw some of those from a vantage point overlooking gaza as well. >> are they nervous and afraid? we saw you looked up into the sky, and you saw it was intercepted. has that become routine for people there? >> certainly. it's something that people are seeing quite a lot. those iron dome missile defense

batteries, they are in action a lot. this was only one shoot-down that we saw. we were in an iron dome anti-missile battery just yesterday where we saw it shoot down eight or nine missiles in just one go. this thing could shoot down multiple targets, and it's something that israelis who live here see very frequently. they'll have an alarm, they'll have sirens governor on, and then they'll have all of a sudden those puffs go off in midair. people are unhappy about that because they're having to spend many of their days indoors, and many people with children will keep their children inside. that is traumatizing for the kids as well because they get bored with being inside. at the same time they're very scared of these rocket alarms. it is something that is really having a deep impact on public life here, especially also economic life. if gu to the malls in this area, to the shops in this area, i would say from observing here that about 80% are closed, and the rest of them are pretty empty, suzanne. >> all right. fred, thank you very much.

appreciate it. another major story that we are watching today. >> thank you. thank you. >> president obama gets a round of applause during his history-making event to myanmar. he is the first sitting u.s. president to visit the country, also known as burma. for decades myanmar was cut off from the world because of its repressive military regime, but a reform movement now underway in a speech at the university president obama urged myanmar to continue its reforms. he met with nobel prize winner aung san suu kyi. >> i want to make a pledge to the people of this country that i am confident we can keep, and that is if we see continued progress towards reform, our bilateral ties will grow stronger, and we will do whatever we can to help insure success.

>> the president arriveed in myanmar. he is now in cambodia for the east asia summit. the two sides have been fighting this long and so violently, can they find peace? we'll talk to former diplomat james ruben about what worked when president bill clinton was in the white house. [ gordon ] for some this line is a convenience. how you doing today? i'm good thanks. how are you? i'm good. [ gordon ] but for others, it's all they can afford. every day nearly nine million older americans don't have enough to eat. anything else? no, not today. join me, aarp, and aarp foundation in the drive to end hunger by visiting drivetoendhunger.org. in the drive to end hunger

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with no cease-fire in sight, people of gaza and israel find nemz the line of fire. on this map you can see how close in proximity the border is. arwa damon was in gaza during the aftermath of an air strike that wiped out an entire family. >> reporter: the large slap slab of concrete and mangled metal gives way. buried beneath it, another lifeless body. it's the second child we've seen. there was also a baby. others m neighborhood say the blast killed all ten people who lived here. israel says they targeted a head of the rocket launching unit for hamas. people we spoke with said they never heard of him. this was the el dalouf family

home. >> reporter: people are saying so far those that have been killed in this strike have been women and children, and they have not been able to find any survivors. just moments ago from that back corner they did pull out the body of a tiny child. over here there's another frantic effort underway. >> reporter: temperatures easily flare as frustration and anger mount. >> she's my uncle's wife, this young man shouts. rage coupled with sorrow etched across his face. this is where she lived. her body finally dug up and carried away. there are no air raid sirens or bunkers in gaza. this strike came with no warning. the rescue efforts are not always so fruitless. not far from here just the day before 11-month-old ahmed and his 4-year-old sister shahata both survived a multiple missile

strike on their home. when the roof collapsed, it somehow formed a protective arch over us. the children's mother safah says. for about 45 minutes i thought i was going to suffocate. my leg was stuck. people could hear me screaming, but they couldn't do anything, she tells us. in between her cries, fears that her children were dead. this is what the building looks like now. the rubble that was cleared to save the family of ten piled back into the lot that was their home. i will never forget what happened, she says. i will die imaging it. i can't believe it. i can't believe these are my children. i tell myself they are not my children. i can't imagine how they survived. i feel like i'm not myself. i can't believe that i am alive talking to you, breathing. she tells us she wants revenge,

but more than that, she wants peace. she says there is no good that comes with war. arwa damon, cnn, gaza city. >> while many world leaders are calling for a cease-fire in the middle east, the chances of brokering it seem pretty slim. republican senator john mccain is suggesting former president bill clinton jump in. >> try to find someone even as high-ranking, frankly, as former president bill clinton to go and be the negotiator. i know he would hate me for saying that, but we need a person of enormous prestige and influence to have these parties sit down together as an honest broker. >> in 1993 president clinton brought then palestinian leader yasser air fought, and then israeli prime minister brabine together for an iconic handshake at the white house. he also had the first face-to-face agreement between the -- ultimately, it did not fulfill either side's expectations.

president clinton tried again at the camp david 2000 summit, but, again, it ended without an agreement on the peace -- on peace in the region. james ruben serves as president clinton's assistant secretary of state for public affairs. he is joining us from new york. jamie, good to see you, as always. if you were advising the president here, do you think he should accept the task? >> well, i think bill clinton will do what's asked much him, but i think it's fair to say the circumstances are very, very different today than they were back, i guess, almost 20 years ago in 1993. the big difference is that the palestinians are not unified. there are two palestinian movements. the one in gaza led by hamas, which is an off-shoot of the muslim brotherhood and the palestinian authority in the west bank. they don't agree with each other. they have very different goals and very different means, and, unfortunately, the terrible tragedy that we just saw on the screen of these families,

they're the terrible pawns in this struggle between hamas to gain international stature and support and the israelis to stop the missile attacks on their country. >> tell us about that, hamas and the ability to strengthen hamas. things have changed after the arab spring. we see that hamas has new allies, a closer relationship with egyptian president mohammed morsi of the muslim breerhood. also more closely aligned with turkey and better armed from iran and some of those weapons. how strong do you think hamas is? >> well, i think we're going to find out in the coming days whether the arab spring has made things worse for israel in terms of its geopolitical reality. you just pointed out quite correctly. hamas is part of the muslim brotherhood. the muslim brotherhood is now in charge as a political party of egypt. that's very, very different than under mubarak. mubarak was an opponent of the

muslim brotherhood. mubarak considered himself an ally of the united states in the fight against islamic extremism. when egypt was the broker of peace between a cease-fire between the israelis and hamas, egypt really was something of an honest broker, because they weren't supporting one side or the other. now the egyptians are playing a new role, and these are new diplomats who have never done this before, and everything they've learned and everything they've trained and everything they've studied their whole life is to be on the side of hamas. >> so what is president obama doing at this point? i mean, his alliances, what kind of leverage does he have with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu considering that it is somewhat of a tense relationship? >> well, i think the leverage of the united states is, you know, i guess the term of art these days is the light foot print of the united states in the middle

east. we are not the main broker of this. we are not the key player between the egyptians and the israelis or between hamas and the israelis. we will, i suspect, support bebe netanyahu's policies. whether that includes a ground invasion or just continued air strikes. i think privately we'll probably be telling him the risk of a ground invasion, explaining to him that the united states and israel's friends don't have the influence in the middle east we used to have and with egypt under a muslim brotherhood president and other key players like qatar and saudi arabia, again, not as favorable towards israel as egypt was, that the geopolitical reality has changed, and israel will come off much worse. that's what the big test is. will hamas overplay its hand in this new reality, and will israel recognize this new reality and not try to get what it used to get.

>> jamie, finally here, i mean, this is a new region when you think about it. i mean, you've got syria. you've got lebanon, syria on the verge of this civil war. iran close to these kind of dangerous weapons. do you think this is a much more dangerous escalation and kwlishgt now than we saw four years ago?

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the crisis in the middle east seems to be intensifying by the hour. at least 92 people have killed in gaza by wednesday. israel says it's trying to pinpoint military targets, but hamas places those targets in crowded residential neighborhoods. sarah seidner reports on two children killed in an air strike. >> reporter: this is the result of a blast so powerful a bolder-sized chunk of the road below hurled through the roof of this two-story home. inside signs children slept here. >> where was the baby? >> the baby -- here. >> reporter: the babies were under the rubble here and here. they were sleeping with their father over here. suddenly, the house collapsed. the brother ran to them. he found them under this rock, she says.

relatives say a 2-year-old and 4-year-old were crushed. the father is still alive. the children's aunt shows us around. there's blood on this bolder and dirt weighs down on everything in the room. we find the children's 22-year-old mother mourning below. i am in shock. i don't believe it. my two children. they are priceless to me. my life is now very difficult, she says. she says an air strike hit just outside her home. when we arrived, piles of dirt are being moved by a dull dozer. the neighbors say it is filling the crater left by the strike. a few streets away in the same neighborhood it looks like the aftermath of a strong earthquake, but residents say this also was the result of an air strike. look to your left, destruction. people picking out things that

anything they can find, and if you look to your right, destruction. the building next to it blown out, and we are standing on what was the roof of a three-story building. in the street below a man in green holds his head in astoonishment. he said he had a warning the strike was coming, but felt powerless. he said the idf warned us and we didn't believe them. ten minutes after that, they hit the house, he says. by then everybody in his house had evacuated with no time to rescue their belongings. 15 of his neighbors were wounded, but no one died here.

in awe neighborhood it says is known for launching rockets towards israel. we ourselves saw rockets blasting from the area leaving a trail of smoke over the neighborhood mosque. long after the rockets and bombardment stops, citizens on both sides will be left with the scars of war. sarah seidner, cnn, gaza city. >> powerful piece. it's a historic trip, but some are worried that the president's visit to asia is being overshadowed by the violence in the middle east. americans believe they should be in charge of their own future.

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a tense meeting with cambodia's prime minister. the focus was on the need to improve human rights. in myanmar the president urged the country to continue the reform movement that is underway there. he met with nobel peace prize winner aung san suu kyi and praised her for her prodemocracy activism. we get details from the trip from our dan rivers. >> reporter: president obama became the first sitting u.s. president to visit myanmar formally after three years of intense engagement with the former military dictatorship. he dismissed criticism that the trip was in some ways premature saying that his presence there could be a catalyst for change. he held a highly symbolic meeting with the pro-democracy leader aung san suu kyi at her residents. the house that had been her effective prison for more than 15 years and officials saying the president was really quite

moved by that visit to her home. he paid tribute as well to her almost quarter of a century struggle to bring democracy to myanmar. >> i was honored to be the first president to welcome aung san suu kyi to the white house. i'm proud to be the first american president to visit this spectacular country, and imvery pleased that one of my first stops is to visit with an icon of democracy who has inspired so many people, not just in this country, but all around the world. >> the president also held bilateral talks with the myanmar president who stressed how much he wants the u.s. to be engaged with his country going forward and administration officials already boasting results from this visit. the international committee for the red cross is going to get access to some political prisoners. there's myanmar promises to

secure a cease-fire with one of the ethmick groups in the north of the country and attempts apparently to try and resolve interethmick violence in the west. the big question for critics of president obama is will all these promises and words from the myanmar president be translated into action? president obama's parting thought really that the more they demonstrate that thurim mremting reform, the more we can do from hem. dan rirz, cnn. nasa has a fascinating new tool for launching vehicles into space. we're going to take a look at what it is. if you think running a restaurant is hard, try running four. fortunately we've got ink. it gives us 5x the rewards on our internet, phone charges and cable, plus at office supply stores.

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right now tensions are rising at the border between gaza and eypsilanti.

the rafah border crossing is one that is still open. the other three in israel have been pretty much blocked by the israeli government. our reza sayah is on the phone with us and he is on the egyptian side of the rafah crossing where he saw some explosions this last hour. tell us what's going on? what are you seeing? reza, can you hear us? >> it looks like he can't hear us. we're going to get back to him. explosions taking place in the gaza-egyptian border. as soon as we can call him up, we'll bring him back. it is hardly the first time we've seen bloodshed in the holy land, but this time things are different. we're going show you how the arab spring could be changing the shape of the israeli arab conflict. [ male announcer ] citi turns 200 this year.

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in the middle east, israel's president simon peres. he talked to our piers morgan about the crisis in gaza and says that ending the fighting can happen. >> if there are palestinians watch this interview who feel helpless, who feel completely poverty-stricken, they have nothing, they see no hope and they now see endless iz really rockets flying over the heads of loved ones, what do you say to them to offer proper constructive hope? >> do two things. stop shooting, start talking. it's in their hands. i want to say very seriously, we don't hate arabs. we don't hate muslims. everybody can believe in what he wants, to be what he is. we respect them. we think they have the same

right to live free and successfully like any other person. >> watch the complete interview on piers morgan tonight right here on cnn at 9:00 eastern. the crisis in gaza, it is not the same this go round. when you look at the map, the borders, they're the same, but the players, the influence, the countries have around israel also changed. want to bring in nick robertson from london. nick, there's been fighting in this region for as far back as anybody can remember. we know it was the end of 2008, beginning of 2009. israeli tanks rolled in rather quickly. that was about three weeks or so and 1400 palestinians ended up dead. now there are thousands of reservists that have been called up just sitting at the border. is this a new strategy in what has changed? >> one of the biggest thing is if you go back to that map, here's egypt. we're going to zoom in here from egypt to the border with the gaza strip there in the green, and zoom in again here to the border crossing, the rafah

border crossing. perhaps symbolic to look at that. when you go back to 2008, 2009, that was the key place that the egyptian government of hosni mubarak essentially blocked helping support the israelis. now, if you look at what was happening back then, these were supplies that were going in through that rafah border crossing, and hit-or-miss my mubar mubarak's egypt tightened the employees on hamas inside gaza by restricting the amount of aid that could get through. there's been a complete political change in egypt. it's now -- it's now the government of the president who just last week went to gaza and said the situation was terrible and it had to stop. gave its support to hamas. it is a muslim brotherhood dominated deposit now inside egypt, and hamas, after all, is really a radical off-shoot of the muslim brotherhood, and they're looking to that government and egypt to give them more political support, and also better access and better

supplies at that rafah border crossing, and these are the broader brush political changes that are going to affect hamas's calculations here. >> this morning we heard from hamas's leader who was definitely pretty tough in his remarks in a news conference out of cairo. he says israel has to make the first move. he was angry with benjamin netanyahu regarding the killing of one of hamas's top military commanders. i want you to listen to what he said this morning. >> translator: today netanyahu wanted to achieve three goals with several messages, but he did not succeed. yes, no doubt he succeeded in assassinating the heroic leader,

but he wanted to maintain his ability in deterence, but it failed. >> you have been covering this region for a long time. when you hear him and you hear the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu saying that there is -- they're not going wait around forever here, is this political bluster? is this rhetted rhetoric? is there something more behind this? are we going to see an escalation? >> i think at the moment it does feel like political bluster on all sides. i mean, imagine this as well. when he was speaking there in cairo, at the same time it was just after a building used by palestinian media inside gaza had been struck by israeli missiles. inconceivable to think back to 2008 and 2009 that hosni mubarak and egypt would have given such a platform to call he'd to speak out as this was unraveling and developing inside gaza, so i think at the moment we're hearing posturing because the

stakes and the political scenario has changed, but, of course, we apply very rationale thinking to this, and in times of conflict, sometimes that rationale thinking goes out of the window, but how do you back away from what could be a very costly in terms of lives, conflict as opposed to backing out of it now. it does seem that people are taking a breath talking about the possibility of a cease-fire now rather than going for that military assault on the ground. it will be so hard to pull back from, suzanne. >> we certainly hope it can be resolved in a diplomatic way. thank you, nick. appreciate it. shooting missiles out of the sky to save lives on the ground. we want to show you how israel's controversial iron dome defense system actually works. ♪

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we've been telling you about the israeli missile defense system called the iron dome. israel says it has stopped the vast majority of hamas rockets including some aimed at tel aviv and other prime targets rshgs so how does it work? fred plankton explains. >> reporter: a kill that possibly saved lives on the ground. this video shows an iron dome missile intercepting a rocket fired from gaza at tel aviv on sunday. the defense system had just been installed in israel's largest city a few hours earlier. several days into the conflict it's already clear the iron dome is having a big impact picking off hundreds of rockets. i got a tour of the israel aircraft industries plant that assembles the air defense system. >> it's a matter of minutes. >> reporter: dr. israel oznovich is one of hose in charge. one key element is an advanced radar. >> the radar searches, locate,

tracks, and intercepts and guides the intercepting missiles within several seconds, few seconds within the launching time. >> reporter: it's extremely hard to shoot down short distance rockets like the ones coming out of gaza, in part, because they're not in the air long enough for older radar systems to lock on to them. >> the target is moving extremely fast. when you want to intercept it, you have to work -- you have to move faster with more agility or more maneuvering power relative to your target. >> reporter: the iron dome was only put into snvs 2011. with breakthroughs in technology, it can break and shoot down multiple targets in midair, but it isn't a perfect solution. >> one of the rockets came here and hit this carport and as you can see, did substantial damage to the car as well. the iron dome has been -- as hits like this one show, it

cannot intercept all the rockets that are coming at israel from gaza. >> still, israel's military says it's very happy with the performance of the interceptor system. >> rockets we want down, we usually down. usualingly these rockets, exactly the ones that are sent or launched from the gaza strip, from the terrorist factions towards biggest cities where you have more people living. we usually down them, but it's not a 100% solution, unfortunately. >> so the engineers at the assembly plant are working extra hours to assemble more iron dome batteries for immediate deployment. fred plankton, cnn, israel. tragedy, fear, and bloodshed. we're going to take a look at some of the most powerful pictures from the gaza conflict. ] at scottrade, we believe the more you know, the better you trade. so we have ongoing webinars and interactive learning, plus, in-branch seminars at over 500 locations, where our dedicated support teams help you know more so your money can do more.

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when it comes to firepower. tom foreman takes a look at what each side brings to the fight. >> reporter: let's look at how the battlefield is shaping up over in the middle east. here's israel along side the mediterranean. it's about the size of new jersey. 7.5 million people, 75% jewish. the economy is good. unemployment below 7%. gaza by comparison geographically very small. only about twice as big as washington d.c. predominantly palestinian. the economy there is quite bad, and unemployment is very high. fwloebl firepower.com has called israel, the tenth most powerful military in the world. let's break that down and see why. they have compulsery military service. that means every young person must go into the military for a while. 176,000 active troops are available, and they have about a half million that they can call from the reserves very quickly. ground forces also impressive. some 3,000 tanks. you can't all the artillery piece and you get about 12,000 units that can operate on the

ground, and, of course, their air force is formidable. about 800 aircraft including some 200 helicopters. this is largely what they've used to have these strikes within gaza. now if look at hamas, their forces are much smaller in terms of their official forces certainly. if you look at people who are really in uniform, soldiers, police, whatever you want to call it, about 12,500. of course, they have nothing like the weapons that the israelis have. however, palestinian militants do have this is a kasam 2. you've probably heard about this a good bit. these are popular because they're cheap and ease where i to make out of steel tubes. they only weigh 70 to 100 pounds, and they're fuelled essentially by commercial-grade fertilizer, and they can pack quite a punch. they're not very accurate, but if you fire enough of them, they do not have toeb accurate. if you go beyond this to some of their morrow bust and better targeted rockets and missiles,

then you also start talking about range. in this conflict so far we have reports of weapons fired from gaza traveling as much as 50 miles. they hit jerusalem and tel aviv. in fact, israeli officials now believe as much as one-fifth of the population of israel is subject to these rocket attacks. that's the one thing they said they simply will not tolerate anymore, and that's why we hear talk and speculation about a possible ground invasion of gaza. there are casualties on both sides in israel and gaza. photos capturing the devastation and the loss. take a look at these. in northern gaza a palestinian woman cries out after her home was destroyed in an israeli air strike. israeli soldiers say morning prayers near the israel-gaza board wrer, today is day six of the so-called operation pillar of defense. they have intercepted more than 340 rockets launched into israel. in pakistan a radical islamic group burned american-israeli flags in protest of the

increasing attacks on palestinians in gaza. the group plans to continue protesting until the conflict ends. i'm suzanne malveaux. the death toll in gaza reaches 100 on this, the sixth straight day of attacks between israel and hamas. that israeli missile strike killed a senior official from islamic jihad. it happened only hours ago in gaza city, but many of the palestinians killed so far have been women and children. the deadliest strike killed ten members of one family. you're looking here at the rubble of what was once their home. three israelis have also been killed since the missiles and rockets started flying. cnn is right in the middle of

covering the crisis. earlier our own fred piken witnessed a shelling on the border between israel and gaza. got a chance to see israel's response live on our air. he was speaking with carol costello when it all happened. take a look. >> there over in the sky you probably won't be able to see it here, there's an interceptor missile taking off right now. that is the iron dome ber septemberor. if you just saw the flash in the sky, that was a rocket coming out of gaza that was just intercepted right now. it appears as though at this point in time there is another barrage being fired from gaza into this part of israel close to the israeli border, and as i was just telling you, there town here on the border is one that does take a lot of fire very frequently. fred plankton is live near the israeli-gaza border. this is not the only time you've had to hit the deck. are things getting worse? are they escalating as the evening goes on? >> well, it seems as though right now it's quieted down for a little while. you never know how long that's going to last.

i'm actually in the town of ascalom now. this town has also received several baurages of rockets throughout the day. four rockets came into this place. three of them were intercepted by the iron dome missile defense system. that's the one that you also just saw in that clip that you showed before with the rocket going up and takes out missiles that are fired from gaza. one of the rocket that came down hit a residential building here. we are told so far that no one was injured in that. however, of course, all of that does take a toll here on civilian life. there are other places in israel in the border region around gaza where people were, in fact, injured. especially the region where a lot of rockets came down there. certainly while it does not really appear to be intensifying, it's also not decreasing. it's continuing at a very, very high pace, suzanne. >> fred, tell us what it's like for the people there on the ground. is this just part of their daily

life? are they taking cover? how are they responding to all of this? >> they're certainly taking cover every time they hear air sirens, and it's something they have to build into their daily lives, and they certainly are. one of the interesting things about the folks who obviously live around the area close to gaza is they have sort of an erie routine with all of had. they don't just take rockets in these times. they also take rockets in the best of times when there's no military operation going on. it's not as frequent as maybe one every two weeks or one every week, but it's certainly something that has shown these people that they have to take these alarms very, very seriously, that they have to run for cover, that they have to go into these hardened shelters to protect themselves, and that's something that they're doing now as well. it's becoming so much that it's also taking a toll on their daily routine. if you go to malls here, about 80% of the shops will be closed, and, of course, it's taking an especially hard toll on children where a lot of people are just keeping their children inside for almost the entire day just to make sure that they're safe. yes, it is having a big impact.

it might notes be things getting destroyed. it might not be as much, of course, also human suffering going on, but it is something that is having a very, very deep impact on the lives of people here, and that's what people here tell us. yes, they support the military operation by and large, but they also want it to end as fast as possible. >> excellent reporting. thank you, fred. world leaders are keeping a close watch on the conflict as it intensifies. president obama, of course, one of them. he spoke carefully, but forcefully, about the situation. here's what he said. >> my message to all of them was that israel has every right to expect that it does not have missiles fired into its territory. if that can be accomplished without a ramping up of military activity in gaza, that's preferable. >> i want to bring in our jill dougherty at the state department. we know the president said that he is traveling in asia, but he

is, of course, keeping up with what's happening in the middle east. tell us about the diplomatic efforts that are underway to try to negotiates some sort of cease-fire here, some sort of deal. >> well, can i tell you, they are burning up the phone lines. that's essentially what the united states is doing. you know, of course, president obama is watching this very closely, but he is being updated by secretary clinton, and i just ran out of the briefing to do the slide shot. the briefing here at the state department. they gave a list, again, of more phone calls. the secretary has been making over the past few days. you know, it includes the prime ministers of basically from israel, egypt, the u.n. secretary general ban ki moon. french foreign minister qatari prime minister, foreign minister, and the turkish foreign minister. you can see what they're doing is tapping the countries that have the most influence. number one would have to be egypt. very, very important.

also turkey. you can see the delicate balancing act by the president and secretary clinton is saying the same thing. on the one hand israel has the right to defend itself against these rocket attacks from gaza, but it also has to try to keep this to a minimum and try to bring this as they keep saying de-escalate the situation. suzanne. >> jill, senator john mccain had a very interesting suggestion about who he thought should get involved. what do we make of one of the people that he would like to put out there? >> well, let's listen to what senator mccain said. it's an interesting proposal. >> tried to find someone even as high-ranking, frankly, as former president bill clinton, to go and be the negotiator. i know he would hate me for saying that, but we need a person of enormous prestige and influence to vez that parties sit down together as an honest

broker. >> of course, suzanne, a person of high stature could be the president of the united states. the current president of the united states, so that's one of, you know -- it's a proposal. i don't think that it's really going to go very far. at that point there are people who are trying to somehow work as not middle men, but people who will, you know, put influence where it's needed, and, again, especially egypt. don't forget that egypt gets $450 million per year from the united states, and just at the top of the briefing, victoria newland was asked whether there's some type of stipulation in the law with that money, which would require them to put pressure on gaza, the palestinians and gaza to stop those attacks. she said not specifically. however, she indicated, when that money is appropriated,

state department -- puts it out there. >> also, very powerful tool. jill, thank you very much. here's what we're working on for this hour. >> here's what we're working on for this hour. the violence along israeli-gaza border is escalate whering. we look at what they're fighting over. and it's three weeks since superstorm sandy hit and still people are without electricity. >> it's hard to see the people suffering. it's hard to see the children cold. >> some finally returning home only to find decay. plus, will the do nothing congress finally work together to fix the economy? >> every tick of the clock is going to rachet up the risk to the economy. >> the risk of going off the fiscal cliff. senator olympia snow hopes this time the president and congress find common ground.

we'll talk with this republican moderate leader as she prepares to leave the senate next. this is cmn newsroom, and it's happening now. look, if you have copd like me,

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it's the latest political drama playing out in washington. will congress and the white house reach a deal to prevent the massive spending cuts and the tax hikes known as the fiscal cliff slated to go in effect in january. well, one retiring senator calls the whole thing a self-inflicted traversy and a manufactured crisis. that's the kind of congressional gridlock behind the decision by republican senator olympia snow of maine to call it quits. >> people are deeply frustrated and angered by the inability, you know, of elected officials here in washington to get together. it's an all or nothing proposition, and that failure, i think, has really eroded the public's confidence. >> senator snow joins us from capitol hill. good to see you. i know you've been very busy here. you decided not to run for re-election because of, goodness, all the partisanship that we've seen, and a very, very frustrating experience, and you talked a bit about this. you are still in a lame-duck

session of the senate. is anything going to get done? can lawmakers even reach a deal? >> well, they must, and they better. and we should. this is critical for the nation. not only in america, but around the world, and it's going to be absolutely pivotal. there are many dangers in delaying, deferring the issues surrounding the fiscal cliff, so i'm pleased that both the president, the congressional leadership met on friday and sounding the notes of optimism and now we have to obviously translate those words into action, and the sooner the better, suzanne, because of the urgency of this issue and more importantly as to whether or not there is a capability in washington in working together on a bipartisan basis. obviously, there's enormous skepticism across the landscape, and rightfully so. that also has to emerge sooner rather than later. >> senator, both sides, e at

least seem to have a tone, a different kind of tone they're talking about. okay, we are iffing to be bipartisan and willing to give a little bit, but when you watch and when you listen to what they are actually saying specifically on the issue of raising taxes, there doesn't really seem to be very much movement. iment you to listen to what congressman tom price said on state of the union with candy over the weekend. >> we need to look at an increasing revenue through pro-growth policies as well as tax revenue. >> not on the tax side, correct? >> tax revenue, which means broaderning the base, lowering the rates, closing the loopholes, limiting the deductions, limiting the credits, and making certain that we identify the appropriate spending reductions so that we indeed a balanced approach. >> so, senator, we know the president is still insisting on raising taxes for the wealthier americans, those making more than $250,000 a year. where is the compromise? do you see a compromise forming in any way? >> well, first of all, i think it is important to note that both sides have shown some

flexibility first on the republican side that revenues will be on the table, and then secondly, on the democratic side is that they will review entitlement spending and spending cuts. so that argument is behind says. now is the question of what consists of the policies embraced in both of those approaches, and as far as republicans are concerned, obviously there is an issue on tax rates. i happen to think it's how best to achieve that balance, and one through itemized deductions or perhaps the combination of both. i mean, i know the president has proposed that, but, again, i think we have to look at everything and know that in the final analysis they have to reach a balanced approach, which is really what the mandate was in this last election. working together in balance and making sure that the wealthy do pay their fair share. >> senator, i'm dying to ask you this question. i mean, you have issues like this fiscal cliff, the debt ceiling debate here. it reaches crisis, right, before congress does anything. why does congress actually -- why do they behave that way?

>> well, suzanne, that's a great question. it's one that the american people are rightfully asking, and that's why they're so angry and fed up with the posturing in washington that's led to this stalemate and deadlock. they have manufactured all the crisises that have developed in the last two years with regard to the economy and the debt ceiling and the fiscal crisis deferring the tax cut expiration, the spending cuts. all of that has been manufactured by congress. it's because it was all positioning for the next election, all about the politics. it wasn't about the policy. it wasn't about the best interest of the country, and that's really what was my frustration is that we weren't working for the common good of this nation at this critical and pivotal moment. >> senator, stay with us. we're going to continue our conversation on the other side of the break. we're going to talk about how you are going to -- fill, top, bake, and present.

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we are back with republican senator olympia snow of maine who is retiring because of all the frustration over the gridlock in washington. senator, thank you for joining us. you've got a long list of accomplishments. i want to go over this here because you were the first woman in history to serve in both houses and state legislature, both chambers of congress. when you were first elected to congress, you were the youngest republican woman, and you were the first woman to secure a full-term seat on the senate finance committee. so long list there. what are you most proud of, and what do you hope or had wished you've been able to accomplish that you didn't? >> well, first of all, i'm proud of the fact that i've been able to serve the people of maine. it's truly been an honor and privilege. secondly, it's being able to work on behalf of women. when i first came to the u.s. house of representatives i joined the congresswoman's

caucus, and i was co-chair for a decade of the caucus in o a bipartisan basis with congresswoman pat schroeder, and we were able to accomplish much in spite of our differences. i have always said that's a great model and example of what's important and how you can work on a bipartisan basis. finally, what i wish i could accomplish, i wish we had a constitutional amendment to balance the budget. that's one of the things that i had worked on since my early days in the u.s. house of representatives because we would not be in the fiscal situation that we're in today had we had that balanced budget amendment. >> do you feel somewhat vindicated after this election that the republican party is now re-examining, doing some soul searching about their positions and whether or not they moved too far to the right? >> well, you know, i would rather not have been in the position i told you, so because for many years i had been arguing that we had to work in the middle and that we had to appeal to women and to minorities and obviously that

didn't happen, and as a result we're in a situation that we're in today where we lost dramatically in this last election, so the republican party will have to be intro spektive. they'll have to begin to review their approaches and understand, we need to return to our roots and return to fiscal responsibility. i wish we had neshate and driven the balanced budget amendment when we were in control of both branches. >> i guess a little bit of i told you so at this point. tell us really quickly what you are doing when you are going to leave the senate. i understand there's olympia's list. you're going to try to still move forward and fight for bipart sfwlanship. >> i am, and that's what contributed to my decision is how best i could contribute in another way with my 34 years of experience on capitol hill in both houses and senate. give my voice to the frustrations on the outside from an insider's perspective, and i created www.olympia'slist.org website to create a social media movement and also to support

candidates in the future and individual members of the senate and the house who are willing to work on a bipartisan basis. i want americans to understand there is a way to influence this process by supporting those who are willing to cross the political aisle and create a reward for doing so. >> all right. senator snow, thank you. good to see you, and good luck on your future endeavors. good luck on everything. appreciate it. >> thank you, suzanne. >> sure. it is day six of the cross-border fight between israel and hamas in gaza. what this means for the region and possible u.s. involvement. plus, churches helping those left homeless after superstorm sandy. how people are helping keep the face while picking up the pieces. ♪ and feel like a green giant. ♪ ho ho ho ♪ green giant

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for the second straight day. it was home to a number of media organizations and a 24-hour hamas network, but has also been used by international media companies as well. israeli officials said the strike targeted four senior islamic jihad members who were hiding in the building. our ben is near there, and you are on the ground in gaza. tell us about, first of all, this air strike on this building, what it has meant and how people are responding to this. >> well, suzanne, this is just actually right behind me. you can't see the building right now because it's dark. there's no electricity there. what we saw was three missiles striking the building at about 3:20 in the afternoon local time, and we saw a great big ball of flaem coming out of the wonderful bottom floors. we rushed over there, and there's already a large crowd of just on lookers and journalists, and gts while afterwards we saw the ambulance services bringing out a man who was severely

charred. we later learned that he was dead. now, the israelis are saying that one of the men they killed or they think they killed was the leader of islamic jihad's so-called military media office. we don't know if that was acally one of the dead. now, the building was more or less empty because it had been struck yesterday as well, but certainly this strike coming right in the middle of gaza has put people on edge. already many less people out on the streets, even though under in these days there aren't a lot of people out anyway, but almost completely desserted at the moment and, of course, continued concerns from palestinians here about the possibility of an israeli ground attack. now, we do have some late-breaking information. i just got off the phone with a senior hamas official involved in the contacts with israel to

achieve some sort of cease-fire. he said that through the egyptian government hamas has sent a proposal for a cease-fire. they're hoping to hear back from israel. he said either this evening or some time early tomorrow. apparently there are two main sticking points at the moment. one is israel's demand for a buffer zone inside gaza, and the other is a demand for a complete end to arms smuggling. hamas's position is they don't have complete control over the gaza strip. there are other groups like islamic jihad that have -- that are also operating, and they say we just can't control them. we can't guarantee their actions. suzanne. >> ben, one final question here. do both sides -- i mean, do they believe that these offers for a cease-fire, the conditions for both sides are serious? >> i don't think there's in question that they're serious, and we saw this four years ago. even though obviously officially

there are no direct contacts between hamas and israel. there's a lot of messages being passed back and forth between the two sides through egyptian middle men so to speak. so there's no question that they're serious. certainly both sides have an interest in bringing an end to this latest outbreak of fighting, but, of course, each has very specific demands and at some point they're going to have to meet in the middle, unless there's going to be even more bloodshed here and in israel. >> all right. ben, thank you very much. appreciate it. as you can see, the violence along the israeli-gaza border now intensifying. what does this actually mean for the region? >> well, this situation continues, and it escalates, it's going to be really serious and tragic. not just for israelis and palestinians, but actually it will cause a huge amount of upheaval right across the region, and this is a region, as you know, that doesn't require

more upheaval right now. >> a look at what gaza and israel are fighting over.

just a while ago our wolf blitzer spoke with former british prime minister tony blair about the cross-border battalions between israel and hamas, and wolf joins us now, and, wolf, i know that he also serves as the peace envoy, the middle east peace envoy. does he believe that peace can be achieved here? >> well, he is not very upbeat in the short-term. he is obviously like everyone else would like to see some sort of immediate cease-fire to stop the killing on the israeli and the palestinian side in gaza. he knows there's a lot of diplomatic activity going on behind the scenes. he himself has been in touch with most of the parties not directly with hamas since as a representative of what's called the quartet, including the quartet and european union. the u.s. and european union don't recognize hamas.

they regard hamas as a terrorist organization, but there have been -- he has been involved with egypt, obviously, turkey, many of the other parties who are working feverishly behind the scenes to get some sort of cease-fire. look, if there is a cease-fire, that's just the first step. then there's going to have to be a much more difficult process of achieving some sort of real deal, some sort of real negotiation that he presumably would be involved in that, and that's going to be a while before that happens. the obama administration had a special envoy, the foremaner senator george mitchell, but he gave up his efforts about a year and a half or so ago, and there's been no u.s. serious -- no u.s. mediation since then, but i think with a new secretary of state and new administration, the president just re-elected there will be an intensified u.s. effort underway fairly soon. let's see if there's a cease-fire first. >> yeah, wolf, we had a chance to talk to george mitchell last week about some of his efforts in that area. what do you think? does tony blair think this new egyptian president of the muslim

brotherhood, mohammed morsi will be somebody who really wants to create peace there, because we know he has a very different relationship with hamas than the former egyptian president. >> right. he is much more different than former president hosnni mubarak. he has a lot at stake right now, and he knows it, president mor of egypt. he is trying to improve his country, and he knows if egypt, for example, were to sever its peace treaty, that was seriously rupture the entire egyptian relationship with the united states. egypt still gets a lot of economic assistance from the united states military assistance from the united states. it's seeking enormous amounts of aid from the international monetary fund. egypt's economy is in deep trouble right now. exports have dried up. tourism industry has really suffered as a result of what's going on, so i think the egyptians under president morsi, they want to maintain their relationship on a cool level with the israelis, and they would like to see the fighting

between israel and hamas stop because that undermines egypt's interests right now m region in terms of its relationship believe only with israel, but obviously with the united states and the europeans as well. i think the egyptians are trying to play a constructive role. let's see if what they do behind the scenes can actually work. we should know i suspect the next 24, 48, maybe 72 hours whether or not there's going to be a cease-fire, suzanne, or there's going to be an israeli escalation. >> all right. well, wolf, we'll be watching the situation room more for your interview with tony blair, and obviously you've been doing a lot of travel and reporting from the region, so we're going to be tuning in later in the situation room, and we'll have more on that. thanks, wolf. really appreciate it. wrirchlgts coming up, a lowers look at the cross-border battle between israel and hamas.

war planes, drones, rockets crisscross the sky for a siblgt

straight day aziz really and hamas militants turn their region into a war zone. that explosion you just saw was a precision strike by israeli defense forces. they targeted four senior jihad officials believed to be hiding in that building. the death toll in gaza has now reached 100. many of the palestinians killed have been women and children. three israelis have also been killed. one understanding the conflict certainly means that just how many people could be in harm's way. our josh is here to show us basically what we're talking about in this very concentrated region. >> it's so important to understand how small or what the distances are and where all the populations are. i've worked with our wonderful folks in our graphics department to put together a really helpful aerial view. let's start. we're going to zoom in first to gauze why because i want you to see the relative sees of gaza in that area. gaza son-in-law about twice the

size of washington d.c., and in there you have 1.7 million people who are squeezed into this region right here. that means lots of dense population centers. one of them, one of the major ones is gaza city that we're going goomg zoom into right now. when you look at the aerial view, i'll step all of the way, you can see how dense it is with homes and buildings everywhere. there are several areas like this inside gaza with very dense populations. let's zoom back out now. here you're seeing israel. israel is only the size of new jersey, and the population is about 7.6 million. about three-quarters jewish. there's also muslim populations, christian, and jews. now, you've been hearing from israel officials, more than a million israelis have been living under daily rocket attack and rocket attack threats. some of them in southern israel, but what we've been seeing throughout this conflict, especially in recent days, obviously hamas rockets can reach farther. for example, there are several that made it as far as tel aviv. some were intercepted. there was one down here in greater tel aviv area.

just as a sign of how many cities are in that area with dense populations. another thing to keep in mind, this right here is the west bank, the west bank is controlled by fatah, which is a different palestinian faction, and gaza is controlled by hamas, so, suzanne, one thing we're hearing about from palestinian officials, especially in the west bank, is that they're saying this is time to unify, to come together as one people, to kind of stand up, and we will see how this plays out. >> it's such an important point to bring that up. the fact that you have these two factions of palestinian groups. talk a little about the surrounding area, how this could impact to the countries that are already facing upheaval in that area. >> absolutely. let's zoom in on the next map because i want to you keep in mind the countries that surround that area. >> the country we're going to zoom to is jordan, egypt, on the other side of all of this. you know that egypt has a new government following the uphooefrl. keep in mind, egypt has also been fighting militants which is right near gauze aa. this conflict plays out in that respect. over to the east you have

jordan. jordan in recent days has major protests there, including some people taking on the king over economics which is very unusual to take on the king in jordan. up to the north you have lebanon, which has seen violence lately. the intelligence chief was killed in a bombing only weeks ago. then to the east of syria, one of the biggest stories in the world, since march of last year, as we know is there is this huge internal conflict going on, and the opposition there says that the death toll is getting near 40,000. suzanne, as we look at that original strip of land, we are looking at there israel and gaza, what we are seeing is a conflict that could if it were to grow, impact the surrounding area and that could bring all sorts of problems. >> it really is a very serious situation that's taking place there, and it's fascinating when you look at it, because it starts at such a small, small region, a small area that's been really fighting for many decades, if not centuries for that piece of land and how that expabdz outs to the whole region. josh, thank you very much. really appreciate that. war planes, drones, rockets crisscrossing the skooifr gaza.

we'll continue following the deadly cross border battle between israel and gaza, so stay with cnn for the latest. oh no, not a migraine now. try this... bayer? this isn't just a headache. trust me, this is new bayer migraine. [ male announcer ] it's the power of aspirin plus more in a triple action formula to relieve your tough migraines. new bayer migraine formula.

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college costs growing, but you don't have to front the bill. christine romans takes a look at ways to pay off college in this week's smart is the new rich. >> reporter: at this college fare high school junior veronica woodly is exploring her options. >> finding schools that are pre-med, and i could major in biology to become a dermatologist and minor in spanish. >> reporter: picking the right college is a high stakes decision with a high price tag. average tuition per year at a public college is more than $22,000 for in state students. a private college more than $43,000. community colleges cost $15,000 a year. not all kids borrow for college, but those who do graduate with $27,000 in debt on average with a price tag like that, college

choice is a careful investment that depends on a student's talents and finances. >> you have to graduate in school in four years. no more five years. you have to pick the right school. if you haven't saved any money, you can't pick the super expensive school and graduate five years later, and you say there's a certain rule of thumb, carmen, for paying for school. >> here's the thing. if you are a parent saving, i don't know why and how you would think you have to pay for the whole thing. don't try to save the full price tag. you can basically try to save one-third, and then have you to go for scholarships and grants for the other one-third, and borrow one-third. it's much more manageable, and can you do it. >> that means the part of the burden is on the kid, but part of the burden is on the parents. a lot of people aren't saving. >> exactly. now, listen, if you can't save, if you just things are too tight to save, i always say to parents, take care of yourself first. your child has a lot more time to pay off loans than you do, and stick with federal. more flexibility when this comes to repayment, and if they can't pay, they have ways to go ahead and defer it, forebearance,

income-based repayment. look at the loans first. >> reporter: for students like veronica and her mom, cathy, it's an exciting time and a lesson in high finance. they're crunching the numbers and considering all the options. >> i mean, on scholarships, financial aid, and then i'll work, but my mom -- i feel like my mom will do most of the paying, but, i mean, i will help her out, of course. >> christine romans, cnn, new york. well, before you go, stock up on hostess cakes. hostess is in bankruptcy court today, and there's a good chance that twinkies won't go extinct after all. >> our investment bankers will try to sell our brands and trademarks and we'll try to, you know, in a liquidation you try to sell everything you've got for whatever you can get. we'll essential try to market the individual brands and see if we can find homes for them. >> all right. there's also potential buyer out of mexico called rupo benbo.

there's a huge steel platform used to launch the shuttles. the mobile laufshlger will send the next next american made ve into space. nasa plans a rocket launch later this decade, which it hopes will advance human exploration further beyond the earth's orbit. teen pop idol justin baby h bieber had a big night at the music awards. the 18-year-old heartthrob won artist of the year, favorite pop rock artest and first pop rock album. in his acceptance speech, he said, this is for all the haters, who thought he would be just a short-timer. ♪ queen is the title >> nicki minaj was the big female winner of the night. she got favorite rap hip-hop artist and favorite rap hip-hop album. all this week, we're talking about the baby boomer

generation, everything from refusing to grow old to inspirational second lives. up next, baby boomers living in alternative communities where they're getting inspiration and neighborly love. ♪ ♪ ♪ hi dad. many years from now, when the subaru is theirs... hey. you missed a spot. ...i'll look back on this day and laugh. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru.

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if you were born between 1946 and 1964, you're one of more than 80 million americans who can officially call themselves baby boomers. all this week we're telling you stories that affect this generation. the oldest baby boomer turned 66 this year and many are thinking about where and how to live the rest of their lives. there is one alternative living in what is called co-housing. communities where families of all ages live in a development

of a couple dozen or more homes, cooking and eating together, a few times a month in a common house, attending a communal garden together and making decisions for the common good of the group. there are about 120 of these communities across the country. joining me is jennifer ryan, she is a member of the timmon school creek co-housing community. i understand you've been living with your partner bill for about 20 years or so in this community. tell us why you decided you would live this alternative lifestyle. >> well, co-housing is kind of a laboratory. we're trying to find ways to live where we can support each other and nurture each other in our day to day lives at a time when most people in society don't have family and friends close by. and co-housing we have a network of closely connected people right in our backyard. we share our daily lives, we help each other reach our

dreams. >> watching -- we're looking at pictures you sent actually, really fascinating to see. you have a community garden here. looks like people are eating together. explain to us what are the benefits of this compared to, like, if you're living in a regular neighborhood, let's say, or in a retirement community? >> yeah, well, in co-housing -- one of the hallmarks of co-housing is we share meals together, we take turns cooking, and in my community, for example, we have meals together twice a week. and for me it is really a highlight of my week to get together with my neighbors, you know, to see what's going on, to chat and to share and catch up with the kids. in my community we're a multigenerational community. and for me that's great because i have an opportunity to interact with, you know, little kids, with teenagers, with the tweens, as well as with people in their 20s, 30s and 40s. >> it sounds like a lot of fun. i know you have some rules in the group here. and you call them work parties.

how does that work actually? do people have to follow the rules? who makes the rules? how do you do that? >> well, we have work parties in my community we have them once a month. we mostly work on the outdoor areas in the gardens. we do a lot of food raising, especially in the last couple of years and we have summer gardens and winter gardens. one of the things i just love about my community and working in the gardens is it is really terrific to see the fruits of our labor, literally. you know, we're sharing that with each other instead of, you know, if i were living in a -- in my own home, just by myself, i wouldn't have that fun of sharing with other people. >> and, jennifer, is there a moment where if you decide, you know, i'm not really up for this anymore, you can simply move, you don't have to, like, stay and be part of that community all the time? >> well, of course you don't have to stay. a few people leave co-housing because it doesn't work for them, but most people stay. it is actually a very -- much

lower turnover in co-housing communities than in the rest of the country. >> tell us what the highlight is. any interesting, funny stories that happened that don't usually -- kind of unique in your situation? i see people around the trees together. >> yeah, well, we -- one of the trees, that was -- we had to take down our oak tree because it was dead and everyone was very sad about, that was sort of the last day of the oak tree. you know, another sort of multigenerational tale, good opportunity, is that on election night we gathered to watch the returns. and one of my young neighbors, miles, came around and was trying to understand the electoral college. and so i sat with him for a while and showed him an app where you can move the bubbles around with the different electoral votes. and he was just -- he was just enthralled. i don't -- i wouldn't have that kind of opportunity if i just lived on my own. >> sure. well, jennifer, it sounds like a really nice community and it

certainly works for you and your family. so we wish you the very best. thank you for coming on. we appreciate it. tomorrow we'll have be talking about how baby boomers can avoid falling into the trap of reverse mortgages. before we wrap it up, he want to let you know, president obama in cambodia this hour. it is the last stop on a visit to southeast asia. he's holding talks with the cambodian prime minister and leaders of japan and china as well as attending to two summits with regional leaders. the president flew to cambodia from myanmar. he is the first sitting u.s. president to visit the country, also known as burma. he extended a hand of friendship while visiting a university there. let's watch. >> when i took office as president, i sent a message to those governments who ruled by fear. i said, in my inauguration address, we will extend a hand if you're willing to unclench your fist. and over the laea